"Now, we are going to do this one more time. Seven, eight, nine, ten. Victory!"

"Victory!"

Subaru stood inside the village center, a broad crowd surrounding him. After the mabeast invasion, he started doing his morning exercises in the village. A few meters away stood his liege, a silver-haired half-elf with a white robe on. The robe was a gift from the margrave. The last two weeks were some of the best in Subaru's life. Ever since he defended the village, he had been called a hero by the inhabitants. Subaru was proud of his achievements, especially from the praise he received from Emilia. Roswaal was also pleased with his efforts, hinting at the possibility of an earlier knighthood. The young guard finished his morning routine, giving out a few small gifts to the children. Afterward, Emilia and himself made their way to the mansion garden, practicing their spirit arts.

He couldn't shake the small feeling of envy every time the royal candidate communicated with the lesser spirits. When Emilia attempted it, all the fire spirits illuminated the garden in an almost artistic manner. Elegantly they bloomed, like a field of beautiful flowers. However, every time Subaru tried it, the spirits refused to listen to him. Following two weeks of training, nothing had changed. Sure, he could attract far more spirits than she could, but no matter how hard he tried, they wouldn't listen to him. They were very similar to the kids in the village. Still, Emilia always gave him a supportive smile and a few encouraging words before she left to study. Luckily, she always accompanied him to his practice while Puck slept.

Today was no diffrent. Subaru attempted to call for the spirits, who ignored his every command. Almost, as if they wanted to taunt him.

"Subaru, you are getting reaaaaally good at this. Maybe one day, you will surpass me in magic. But until then, you still have a lot to learn."

"Sure, Emilia-tan. I will keep trying until I become your knight."

Emilia's smiled at him warmly at her only friend before turning back to the spirits.

"Subaru, I have to go back to study. I need to be well educated if I want to become the queen."

"You never really told me what you wanted to do when you become the queen. Do you have a political agenda? Like the parties in Japan?"

"I am sorry, I don't know what you mean. What does a party have to do with politics? Also, what is this Japan? Anyway, I want the people in Lugnica to be equal, regardless of race. The ruler of the country shouldn't get his position through lineage but votes. That's reaaaally selfish, right?"

"I find it an admirable goal to have. I believe, with enough determination, you can do it, Emilia-tan."

The half-elf offered him a last smile before she left. She didn't tell him the truth. While equality was the main focus of her policy, she had a diffrent goal in mind. Nevertheless, she couldn't let her soon to be knight hear about it. He would call her selfish and might leave. After all, the only reason why she participated in the first place was to obtain the dragon's blood. With it, Emilia could unfreeze the elves in the forest.

Subaru made his way to his room. After completing his morning routine in the village, he commenced with his weapon training. Walking through the opulent hallways, Subaru heard voices.

"Frederica nee-sama, can you help me?" The voice of a small girl echoed from the kitchen.

"Petra, I am on my way." The young man turned to face the voice.

Subaru eyes found one of the new maids at the Roswaal mansion, Frederica Baumann. She possessed long pale-gold hair with green eyes and was a little taller than Subaru. The most unusual feature of hers was her fang-like teeth. Since her arrival, the royal guard had learned about her origin a bit. He discovered that initially, she had quit her job at the mansion, but after a special request from Roswaal, she had returned. Following her return, she supported Subaru in his combat training, stating that he reminded her a bit of her younger brother. Subaru also inquired that she was a quarter beast, which classified her as a beast human. The young guard still had to come to terms with the fact that, except the children, everyone was physically stronger than him.

"Sorry, Subaru-sama, I have to help the junior maid in training. I hope that won't be a problem."

Subaru scratched his head in discomfort. In this household, he had a status close to a lower noble. It would probably take more time to get used to it, especially when you compare it to the situation back in Japan.

"It's no problem, Frederica. Don't be too harsh on Petra. She is still a child."

Frederica gave him a courteous bow as she made her way to the kitchen to help the second new maid.

Three days after the boy solved the mabeast incident, Petra had sought employment at the Roswaal mansion. Unbeknown to Subaru, she developed a crush on him. Petra sought approval from her mother when she overheard Subaru talking about his preference for maids. Since then, the young servant has put a lot of effort into her work. Both to impress Subaru and provide an additional source of income for her family.

Subaru made his way to his training area in the garden. He started with his copper shortsword, repeating the same slashes that he read in a book from his room. Berehynia had materialized, contentedly watching his training while hovering over his shoulder.

After finishing his flurry of attacks, he took the whip from his belt. Around five days ago, a butler from a noble visited the mansion. Going by the name of Clind, he took some time to show Subaru how to use a whip properly. If not for his water spirit, he would have a scar right under his left eye. Repeating the moves the manservant had taught him, he wondered if Clind would visit again soon, showing him a few more tricks. For Subaru, the employee resembled the badass butler trope from many shows.

Next up was his mace. The young man was the most confident utilizing it as it was the only weapon Subaru had ever used in combat.

Lastly up was his spear. Because it was very cumbersome to carry around all the time, he thought about dropping it. However, the weapon continued to be the easiest to learn, so he held onto it.

After some time, he finished his armament training. Subaru brought the weapons back to his room and made his way to Beatrice to start his magic training.

With a forceful push, Subaru ripped open the library door. As always, a little girl sat on her stepladder, staring at him in annoyance.

"Beako, are you ready for our lessons?"

"Betty wishes that you just disappeared forever, I suppose. How about starting to knock, I wonder. Treat Betty's room with respect, in fact."

"Come on, Beako, don't be like this. Smile more it would make me happy."

"Betty doesn't care if you are happy, in fact."

Both of them made their way to the yard, Beatrice's watchful eyes observing the young man's magic casting.

"Motus."

As his last spell for the day, Subaru tried a new earth spell he found. Stomping his foot to the ground, a shockwave of earth rushed forwards. Anyone caught in its blast would be flung backward. However, the reach of the spell was limited, only reaching around five meters. The writer of the book described it as one of the easiest earth spells, right after Filar. Yet Subaru had great difficulty controlling his magic. The young man also improved his use of Dona and Filar. The structures he created from mana stopped randomly collapsing. He still had trouble with his yin magic, lacking the ability to cast more than seven stakes of Minya. After finishing his training with a disinterested Beako, he listened to her advice and borrowed a book from her. Hastily he made his way back to his room, still having to study before lunch.

Beatrice, who sat on her ladder, felt a certain way. The same feeling invaded her every time someone tried to find the forbidden library. However, this time it was diffrent. A new person attempted to breach the barrier between the library and the mansion. Curiosity got the better of her. After all, it could still be [that Person] . The door of the library creaked as it was pushed open by a small hand. Before Beatrice stood the young village girl, that goes by the name of Petra. Instead of her village clothes, she was now sporting a maid outfit. Her main characteristic, the red ribbon, was still resting on top of her head.

"Beatrice-sama, Frederica nee-sama told me that you let nobody enter. I just wanted to give you these."

In her hand was a bowl with various sweets from the mansion stash.

"Betty only lets people enter when she feels like it. If you so desperately want to give Betty sweets, I shall accept, in fact."

"Do you require any tea, Beatrice-sama?"

"Betty doesn't want any tea. You can put the bowl right here, I suppose."

Beatrice tapped next to her on a small table. She stopped looking at the young girl, returning her full attention to the book in her hand. Petra put down the bowl on to Beatrice's petite table before turning around to leave. However, the protector of the library stopped her.

"Betty is feeling generous today." Putting her small hand in the bowl, Beatrice took out a few candies before handing them to the new maid.

"Take them, I suppose. And don't forget to close the library door on your way out."

"Yes, Beatrice-sama."

Petra turned around and closed the door. Quickly, she began to devour the candies before Frederica caught her. Hastily, the junior servant made her way back to her work. Maybe she could brag to her senior colleagues about meeting Beatrice in her room later.

Subaru finished his lunch, Beatrice joining them for the first time since his arrival. Ram told him that the spirit rarely joined them for any meals. However, since Subaru's arrival, Betty has been attending every dinner. The royal guard was delighted that the small girl would come to join them eating, taking great joy in their antics, even if they were fewer in number than he wished. Beatrice still treated him with respect, even if she opened up a bit. Emilia, Puck, Petra, Ram, and Roswaal were also present. Subaru busied himself with his thoughts. He opted to ignore the political discourse between the margrave and the potential queen. The royal guard's head hurt when he started to think about the amount he still had to learn. It had barely been three days since he could read and write intermediately well. These days, he received a lot of books, ranging from earth magic over chivalry until history. The young man had at least a dozen books to study in the next weeks. So after quickly finishing his lunch, he made his way back to his room.

Subaru spent the last four hours slumped over books, finally deciding that he had done enough for the day. Following a quick walk through the mansion's garden, Subaru made his way to his room. His hands reached to the top of the shelf, where a small plushie was hiding. Together with Petra, he sewed the last two weeks on the doll. Since his fiasco as Natsumi Schwarz, he not only possessed unrivaled skill in cross-dressing, but he also was great at sewing. The plushie was a gift to one of the new residences at the mansion. Slowly, he made his way down into the basement. Approaching a thick metal door, Subaru inserted multiple keys in their designated locks. Stepping forward, Subaru found himself in a dark, windowless room. On a small bed, with a doll of Reinhard in her arms, sat the mabeast user. Her blue hair slightly messy, a small tablet with food and water next to her bed. As always, a blue light began to fly towards the young girl.

"How are you doing, young one?"

"It's onii-chan and Blue," Meili called out happily.

"Here, I made this for you."

Subaru gave the young assassin the doll he made. He tried to replicate the Gulitylowe with the help of Petra. It took a lot of effort, so he was relieved to see a happy child.

"Thank you, onii-chan."

Meili embraced the doll of her former pet, warmly smiling at Subaru. The boy found it depressing that Meili had to live like this. Beatrice found out that her [Divine Protection] created miasma. To keep the people around her safe, they locked her into the basement with only a few toys and minimal social interactions.

"Can Blue stay with me for a while?"

"Sure thing. Berehynia, I will come back later for our water magic training."

Shortly after, Subaru departed. The boy was exhausted, so he made his way back to his room to take a short nap.

Meili contently played with Berehynia. Since not many people visited her, it was a nice change for once. In the time she spent locked up, she had a lot of time to think. Firstly, she missed her big sister, Elsa. However, she understood that she could not return to her. She failed her mission and surrendered herself on top. Mother wasn't a kind person. Meili knew that Mother would punish her brutally for failing, probably kill her. The two assassins once failed their mission horribly. As punishment, Mother turned the sisters into frogs. It was one of the most horrifying experiences of her life, feeling her bones being changed and broken. That's why she only surrendered under the condition that they would keep her hidden and safe. The little girl seemed to be no joke. Neither did the maid and the guard. Lastly was the small blue dot of light that, alongside the boy, treated her with kindness. Meili turned her attention back to Berehynia, playing with her a little more.

Subaru and Berehynia were practicing their water magic in the mansion's garden. After having formed their contract, both of them noticed Subaru's lackluster gate and mana production rate. In order to compensate for his shortcoming, both of them trained their combat and defensive spells. Although Unda was a weak attack spell, it was their best bet since Subaru lacked almost any offensive capabilities. Subaru also learned that healing magic was a rare skill. After inquiring about this, it made him appreciate his water spirit far more than he did before. She was also excellent at casting Huma. After a bit of casting spells, they parted ways. The young man returned to his room, studying and then going to sleep. He trusted his spirit enough to let her train with Petra on her own. Berehynia always told him how the training with her young student was.

According to her, Petra could create and manipulate water well. But her average talent made it only useful for an easier way to water plants. Nevertheless, as long as both the maid and his spirit had fun exercising, Subaru was okay with it. Tired, he jumped into his bed and drifted into a peaceful sleep.

Unbeknown to everyone, a partially clothed female was overlooking the mansion. Just like the previous two weeks, she merely watched and analyzed the routine of the inhabitants. Her tongue rolled over her lips, which turned into a sadistic smile.

"Soon, just a little longer."

AN:

Thank you for reading this chapter.

Water Magic is quite rare. We obtained this piece of information in Arc 7.

Also if you want any character interaction or non-canon characters (keep it realistic please. Volcanica, Zarestia or Vincent would not show up in the capital for no reason) to show for the second part of Arc3, please comment on them.